Crash hospitalizes four

A 42-year-old Midland man says he knows now why he was off work Friday - to help an injured little girl at an accident scene in Midland.

Two women and two children were taken to MidMichigan Medical Center Friday after what a

Midland Police Department lieutenant called a serious crash on M-20 near Vance Road.

Lt. C.J. Prinzo would not release the names of the injured, but said all four were taken to the hospital emergency room after the 2:40 p.m. crash. He said he did not know the condition of any of the four.

A 21-year-old Sanford woman with a two-year-old and a four-year- old in the back seat was

northbound on Vance in a 1994 Pontiac Grand Am and was turning west onto M-20 (Isabella

Street). The driver pulled in front of a 1998 GMC Jimmy driven by a 34-year-old Wheeler woman. She was alone in the vehicle. Midlander Todd Riley said he was coming to use the ATM

machine at Save-A-Lot when he came upon the accident. There was one police car on the scene,

but no ambulances as yet. Passersby, who ended up helping after the crash, also were at the scene.

"There was a little boy in the accident and we pulled him off to the side," Riley said. He had

a gash on his head and was crying, but otherwise seemed OK, he said.A little girl lay in the back seat of the car, and a rescuer couldn't fi nd a pulse. So Riley brought outhis automatic external defibrillator, which he carries in his vehicle in case of just such a situation.

Riley works for a company that sells cardiac equipment, and he's trained to use the defibrillator.

But the automatic readout on the machine told him the child's heart rhythm would not be helped by a shock.

So Riley and two ambulance workers turned to CPR. Riley rode in the ambulance with the girl, and eventually ambulance personnel were able to get the heartbeat to improve.

The collision pushed the Jimmy onto its top, Prinzo said. The driver of the Pontiac was thrown to

the car's passenger side "and the front was pretty much crumpled,"

he said. Rescue personnel used the Jaws of Life to peel away the door to extricate the woman. Prinzo said there were "lots of

people" at the crash scene. Two said they were volunteer firefighters and a third said she was

a nurse, but Prinzo could not confirm that information.

Passersby helped direct traffic, he said.

"There was another lady doing CPR before I took over," Riley said. A man at the scene helped the EMTs with their equipment.

The accident remains under investigation, Prinzo said. As of Friday evening,

police still hadn't filled in many of the details, such as whether there was a visual obstruction or whether alcohol was involved.

"This is a pretty serious crash, so we do a lot more in-depth investigation," he said.

Riley now knows he, with his wife and daughter, was in his vehicle at that precise

spot for a reason. He'd begged his company for time off to take his daughter to

Cedar Point and, had he not been off work, most likely would have been in some

other part of the country.

"I don't think anything happens without divine providence," he said. "I was just fortunate enough to be able to help. That's all."

The accident closed both lanes of eastbound M-20, and traffic was rerouted through

the Save-a-Lot parking lot. The left lane of westbound M-20 was closed as well.

Midland firefighters and the Midland County Sheriff's Office responded to the crash.